Is it required to intend the Angels and those present when saying Salam in the prayer?

Question Summary

Is it required to intend the Angels and those present when saying Salam in the prayer?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

Saying the Salam at the end of the prayer is necessary. However, intending the Angels and those present is merely recommended. Therefore the Salam remains valid despite not having such intention.
[Shurunbulali, Maraqi al-Falah]

The wisdom behind intending the Angels and all those present in the prayer during the salam is that when one prays, whether alone or in a congregation; the Angels join them in prayer.

Imam Malik narrates from Sa’id bin al-Musayyab that he used to say, “Whoever prays in a deserted land an Angel prays with them on their right and another on their left. If he calls the adhan (call to prayer) and the iqama, Angels like that of mountains pray behind them.” [Ahmad]

This narration also shows the importance of calling the adhan and the iqama even when praying alone.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch

 

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch is a teacher of Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and some texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.